Noninterest income climbed 26.8 percent to $286 million, driven by across-the-board increases in income from service charges, credit cards and retail investments. Mortgage fees rose 90 percent to $17.5 million, reflecting a boom in refinancings.

Given the refinancings, Bove said he would have predicted a decline in net interest margin from the fourth quarter of last year. But, he said, the company slightly increased its margin based on improvements in the spread on other types of lending.

Meanwhile, FFLC Bancorp Inc., parent of First Federal Savings Bank of Lake County, reported $991,000 in earnings for the same period, up 1.8 percent from a year earlier. Per-share profit rose 8.3 percent to 26 cents a diluted share from 24 cents a year earlier.

The much sharper increase in per-share earnings was attributed in part to a smaller number of shares outstanding because of a buyback, according to the Leesburg company.